how do i get my hamster to stop biting and how do i get her let me hold her?

Question
i have a panda bear hamster and she goes right to my hand when i stick my hand in the cage and she try's to bit me and some times she does i put gloves on and hold her and she bites the glove for a couple seconds and then quits but she jumps right out of my hands so i can never hold her how do i get her to stop biting? i don't like to hold her much cause she try's to bit me or she does some time i had a black bear or black berry hamster before and she was alone in the cage at the store and she never bite me unless i buged her when she was in her house or if i had a neckless in my hand and my finger was right next to it and she bite me by accident is it the reason why my panda bear hamster bite is because she was in a cage at the store with other panda bear hamster and maybe was buged by them or something please help me

sammi

Answer
hi sammi,

hamsters need to be handled regularly when your trying to tame them, or they never get used to being touched. and yes, if a hamster has been sharing a cage with others, they are a bit harder to tame. heres a process which you can follow and it SHOULD be sucessful.

first things first - always wash your hands before handling her, if you smell like food, you will get bitten! also, wear gloves if you have to..

1. hamsters are naturally timid and its all about getting it to realize you mean it no harm.
2. this process may take a while so you have to be patient and don't give up!
3. first way to start this is to feed it treats through the bars with your hands.
4. once he does this without hassle, rest your hand, palm up in the cage with a treat in the middle, his curiosity and need for the food will overwhelm him and he'll soon climb on no problem.
5. now for the hard part, you'll notice that once he's on your hand, any movement or trying to hold him propperly will have him running. so you'll need a box, big enough that he can't climb out. get him in the box via his excersize ball (if you don't have one, get one cheap from your pet store, serious value for money) fill the bottom of the box with a thick layer of sawdust, he is going to jump when you try to grab him. anyway, start trying to cup him for underneath with your hands. if he jumps, no worries, just rinse and repeat this process until you can hold him without him trying to jump away. hamsters will always try to escape your grasp, but it shouldn't come across as panicky once tamed.

* reminder - this could take up to a few weeks for him to be fully tamed.

at around the number 4 stage you should try it without the gloves, let her get used to your smell.

anyway - best of luck, and thanks for your question.

Joanne x